After a few months of feeling unwell, Sara’s life was turned upside down when she was diagnosed with a rare brain tumour.
Following a haemorrhage and major brain surgery that left her unable to walk, with impaired vision and balance, as well as permanent profound hearing loss, she has been focused on getting back everything the tumour took away from her, and much more.
Now she’s sharing the story of how she overcame adversity to get from sickbed to summits.
During this episode Sara shares more about how she got back into running, going after her first ultra and how she approaches new and difficult challenges.
Sara in her own words about her next challenge:
“In September 2022, to show others that despite life throwing curveballs our way we can still achieve, I aim to run from Land's End to John 'Groats. I will be covering a distance of approximately 855 miles over 20 days.
I'll be leaving from Land's End on the morning of Monday 5th September, and with the help of some friends l'll be running between 40 to 50 miles a day, mostly on road.
Yes, I have my concerns. Running, however, is the least of them! I wonder how much of a problem my tinnitus will be with having road noise around me for approximately 10 hours a day. I worry about not hearing traffic around me (as I have no direction of sound).
I'm also apprehensive about how I will cope with fatigue and the nausea associated with it. I have good support around me though, and we're working hard in training to overcome these issues as best we can.”
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Listen to Sara Now!
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Show notes
Who is Sara
46 years old
Her love of challenges and taking on her next big challenge
Growing up in Chester and her early years
Not fitting in at school and focusing on school work
Meeting her husband and going waking at the weekends
Getting married and having children
Getting back into running about 10 years ago
Starting with couch to 5k
Using running to help with children behaviour
Sticking with running but not have a plan
How running helped to maintain her sanity
Why running became enjoyable
Having a love/hate relationship with running
Why you have to push yourself
Being diagnosed with a brain tumour
Needing to have an operation in May 2018
Having a rare complication
Dealing with everything that was going on
The challenges of recovery
Losing her hearing and struggling with balance
Wanting a new normal which would be better that the old normal
Getting back into running after surgery
Struggling with motion sickness
Deciding to sign up for an Ultra Marathon
The challenges of fatigue
Wanting to push her limits
Meeting Danielle Gibbons @danigibbo1
Starting to train for her first ultra
Not being able to go longer than 40 mins
Running her own ultra - The Sandstone Trail
Being supported by friends and family
Why running fast isn’t an option
Deciding to run the length of the UK (LEJOG)
Looking for support and funding and building up a support team
The mental approach for taking on these big, physical challenges
Having to figure out the process
Breaking down the process into individual steps
Taking it one step at a time
Figuring out sleep
Wanting to run 40 - 45 miles a day
Learning how to manage fatigue
Writing her book - Sickbeds to Summit
Dealing with the trauma and addressing the feeling it brings up
The good stuff that has come out of the challenges
September 2022
Finals words of advice
“Don’t overthink it and don’t talk yourself out of it”
Social Media
Website: www.saracrosland.com
Instagram: @saracrosland
Facebook: @sickbedtosummits
Twitter: @saracrosland
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The Tough Girl Podcast is being sponsored throughout March by @inov_8
Get your exclusive 15% discount code for inov-8.com by signing up HERE
You can still get involved with the #MarchDailyMile Challenge.
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